Staff Member

For the most part most backup apps are commercial applications that will require a payment. Apple has included Time Machine in OSX but I suspect backing up so much storage TM may not be the most efficient.

Since you have so much data and experience with CCC I recommend purchasing that app

Don't get me wrong, I think CCC is a great app, especially as it works so well and provides bootable backup clones...

...but if you want a free alternative you might look into the terminal command "rsync". In fact, I believe CCC uses the rsync tool to accomplish its own backups.

The rsync utility along with its remote update protocol will sync file systems/directory trees across a network by performing diffs/patches, thus the minimum amount of data is communicated (differences only). And rsync knows about users, groups, permissions, and links. The "man rsync" documentation explains its use.

CrashPlan allows you to use their software for free for backups to destinations other than on their servers. I've never used it with more than about 1TB of total data, but it works quite well from my experience.

If you can afford 12TB worth of storage, and will need another 12TB of space somewhere to back it up, can't you afford a few bucks for backup software? Looking for freebies here seems to be a strange priority.

I don't think an online service to backup 12TB of data is cost and time effective.

Click to expand...

That's why I suggested using it to backup to a destination other than their servers. You can use their software for local backups or backups to another computer you own elsewhere for free. You only pay if you use their cloud storage.

The main reason I suggested it is that it is a) free and b) does an excellent job of deduplication and compression. After he initially backs up the 12TB, the subsequent months jobs will likely be very short unless all or most of that data changes monthly.

I agree with the other poster, with spending so much $$ on storage already, is spending a little more for CCC really a problem?

Click to expand...

I agree with that.

However, I'm still not sure CCC is a great option for this, as it does not appear to do de-duplication or block-level incremental backups, meaning that backup sizes are probably much larger than necessary and backups take longer than necessary.

As for cost of Data and cost of software. I'm working on a research project and our funds are finish until middle next year. Hence me looking for a bridging solution. The people that use to run our back-ups on CCC, well has left the project as their contract has expired.

Which leaves me with the discussed situation. We have secondary SAN of about 20TB but i don't want to mix data as that is for research and the discussed data is for users ext.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.